Car went to shit - leaking, broken radiator fan, & vibrating/rattling - Zilvia.net Forums | Nissan 240SX (Silvia) and Z (Fairlady) Car Forum

AnonymousCoward · 08-09-2011, 08:35 AM

Car info: base model '96 S14, KA24DE, stock w/ open diff

At a stoplight yesterday I shifted into 2nd gear @ 5k rpm and suddenly there was a loud noise (not really a bang, more of a clunking noise). My car started vibrating pretty bad. It made it about another 5-10mi. to the house.

So here's the damage: radiator fan broke off about half its fins and destroyed the housing, there's a clear fluid leaking from the engine area (it's dripping from behind the oil pan, but the bottom front pulley on the engine also looks wet), and now when the engine revs above 2k rpm the shifter will rattle violently. The car vibrates a little bit more, but not nearly as bad as when whatever went wrong happened (it felt like it was hooked up to a giant vibrator).

I think it's the transmission, since the shifter has been loose & rattled at high rpms since I bought the car 2 months ago. It just seems like things are much worse now.

I've also been told that the diff or driveshaft could've caused it too. I have driven the car a little stupidly at some times where the rear wheels will slide/skip due to the open diff. Not sure if that'd have caused this.

I'm going to try taking it to the shop today if possible, but I'd like to be able to pinpoint the problem and fix everything at once so that there's no lingering problems.

Any help would be appreciated.

chetos13 · 08-09-2011, 12:31 PM

its time for a sr swap

AnonymousCoward · 08-09-2011, 12:39 PM

Yeah, if it had died 3 wks later I'd have the money too :/

labor & new transmission is only going to cost $400 though so I think I'll have to go with that for now.

future · 08-09-2011, 12:40 PM

It's stuns for a ls swap

Chaluska · 08-09-2011, 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chetos13

its time for a sr swap

wow definately the worst suggestion ever.

get a used KA for a couple hundred bucks,

AnonymousCoward · 08-10-2011, 10:14 AM

Well last night the car suddenly stopped shaking & vibrating and drove fine. It actually feels better than when I bought it 2 months ago. I can't hear the shifter rattling anymore either, even at 4k rpm or so. There's still a small rattle coming from the engine (maybe loose stuff after the fan went to shit) but it seems much better now.

On the other hand, my power steering went out at the same time and I stopped smelling the sweet-smelling leaking fluid, so I guess that's what the clear fluid was. Car is also overheating so there's probably an issue with the radiator as well. Going to get it fixed tomorrow morning so hopefully that's all there is to this.

jdm213 · 08-10-2011, 10:20 AM

dont tell me u have clear power sterring fluid cz that not for your car ur suppose to gave at fluid the red cherry color in their mate

Edwin562 · 08-10-2011, 10:25 AM

what got me stump is that you state the fan broke.... like WTF did you do to cause the damn fan to break. lol

AnonymousCoward · 08-10-2011, 01:26 PM

Ah, not sure what type of power steering fluid was put in there. I just bought the car and haven't changed that out yet.

Likewise I have no idea what could've caused the radiator fan to explode like that. The car was involved in an accident 10 years ago and it looks like some of the intake / plastic bits were replaced in a crappy way. The air intake, for example (just before the filter) was loose because no one had bothered to screw it back down. So I ziptied that. But maybe something else was loose that I didn't see and happened to touch the fans. But it does seem strange that that'd happen while starting normally at a traffic light.

Someone else brought up that maybe the motor/transmission mounts are bad/old and that could've caused the rattling/vibrations, but now that those have stopped I'm not sure what to think.

Oh well, should have some straight answers tomorrow afternoon hopefully.

blueshark123 · 08-10-2011, 01:46 PM

did u fix the fan atleast im sure the fan breaking off whacked the ps line and radiator and thats why ur leaking, it also i probably vibrating cause ur fan is broke if u didnt fix it already.

AnonymousCoward · 08-10-2011, 01:56 PM

Not yet. Planning on fixing it tomorrow.

DoobieS13 · 08-10-2011, 02:06 PM

If u shifted from 1st to 2nd at 5k.....ur Def not driving "normal" lol I hardly go over 3k in any gear

AnonymousCoward · 08-10-2011, 03:36 PM

haha, fair enough. But I didn't redline it either.

xFix Kaos · 08-11-2011, 08:34 AM

check your water pump, happened to me my water pumped seized and shatered my clutch fan, shit sucked. recommend replacing the water pump its like 70 bux at autozone and def worth it!...and my shifter did the rattling thing also wen i reved it in neutral, found out my flywheel wasnt put on perfectly, so had to redo that...

thefro526 · 08-11-2011, 08:53 AM

Out of Curiosity, did you check the mounts?

Hard shift then Clunking, Random Stuff Contacting Stuff that it's not supposed to and transmission shaking makes me think broken mount...

AnonymousCoward · 08-11-2011, 11:40 AM

Well after the car drove perfectly for about a day (except without power steering & it overheated after awhile) it went to shit again. Found out that the fan belt came off, probably on the first day. It was still on two of the three pulleys so I hadn't noticed. So I took that off entirely and it drove around for about 50mi.

The car was out of coolant(even though I'd just refilled it about a week prior) so that's probably leaking too. I refilled that and put a little more motor oil in for good measure. Car made it to work fine and then died when I was parking (didn't realize at the time that it'd die if the revs went below about 1k). It felt very weak though, like only half the power was getting to the wheels. Drove about 40mph in a 55 because I didn't want to push it. Adding the coolant seemed to help with the overheating problem some.

It did get a check engine light unfortunately, so I'm hoping I didn't hurt the engine by driving it to work & the shop.

Had to give it gas to keep it from stalling when idle, but it made it to the mechanics and is now being worked on.

Update: Blown radiator hoses, seized water pump, bad clutch fan, radiator fan of course is destroyed, bad motor mounts, bottom alternator bolt is all fucked up, replacing distributor cap & spark plug cables & getting a tune up. Total of about $1k in repairs/parts/labor. fml

C13AN240 · 08-11-2011, 12:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnonymousCoward

Well after the car drove perfectly for about a day (except without power steering & it overheated after awhile) it went to shit again. Found out that the fan belt came off, probably on the first day. It was still on two of the three pulleys so I hadn't noticed. So I took that off entirely and it drove around for about 50mi.

The car was out of coolant(even though I'd just refilled it about a week prior) so that's probably leaking too. I refilled that and put a little more motor oil in for good measure. Car made it to work fine and then died when I was parking (didn't realize at the time that it'd die if the revs went below about 1k). It felt very weak though, like only half the power was getting to the wheels. Drove about 40mph in a 55 because I didn't want to push it. Adding the coolant seemed to help with the overheating problem some.

It did get a check engine light unfortunately, so I'm hoping I didn't hurt the engine by driving it to work & the shop.

Had to give it gas to keep it from stalling when idle, but it made it to the mechanics and is now being worked on.

Update: Blown radiator hoses, seized water pump, bad clutch fan, radiator fan of course is destroyed, bad motor mounts, bottom alternator bolt is all fucked up, replacing distributor cap & spark plug cables & getting a tune up. Total of about $1k in repairs/parts/labor. fml

Okay so All those repairs are basic except for the motor mounts why didn't you just do them yourself or invite a friend to come help you? You could have saved so much... You probably have a good reason though

93nismo · 08-11-2011, 12:10 PM

thats all shit you could have done on a saturday in your garage. when it got all weird you should have just stoped and investigated it on the side of the road instead of driving it home. i just had the studs on my waterpump that hold my clutch fan on break a few weeks ago, i thought it was my bumper dragging on the center of the road, but then i pulled off to check it out because my power steering stoped working and found that disaster. i got it towed to my house and fixed it the next day. probaby saved myself a good chunk of change.

AnonymousCoward · 08-11-2011, 12:31 PM

I suck at mechanical stuff and have no friends in the area that are good at it. I probably should've gotten a rental and towed the car home.

The low compression on the engine pisses me off, but I expected it. It makes all these repairs seem like a waste if I'll just be pulling out everything for an engine replacement later on down the road.

AnonymousCoward · 08-11-2011, 07:00 PM

Well, car is fixed and feels great. Apparently the car has a short shifter too, but the shifter bearing was worn out and it just felt like a regular sloppy shifter.

I wish I'd bought some used stuff off the forums before so that I could've avoided paying the mechanic for all the parts. Oh well.

KiLLeR2001 · 08-12-2011, 01:57 AM

On my first 240sx I took off from a stop light, soon as the revs hit 3k and I was ready to shift into 2nd, the radiator clutch fan came flying off underneath the engine bay. It was night time so I couldn't see anything. Car wouldn't start so I had to tow it home. Turns out the fan disconnected the distributor wire and messed up a couple other things... Pretty much from that day forward I vowed to only install electric fans on my car. 4 years later electric fans have done me well.

08-09-2011, 08:35 AM	#1
AnonymousCoward Leaky Injector Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: El Paso Posts: 73 Trader Rating: (0) Feedback Score: 0 reviews	Car went to shit - leaking, broken radiator fan, & vibrating/rattling Car info: base model '96 S14, KA24DE, stock w/ open diff At a stoplight yesterday I shifted into 2nd gear @ 5k rpm and suddenly there was a loud noise (not really a bang, more of a clunking noise). My car started vibrating pretty bad. It made it about another 5-10mi. to the house. So here's the damage: radiator fan broke off about half its fins and destroyed the housing, there's a clear fluid leaking from the engine area (it's dripping from behind the oil pan, but the bottom front pulley on the engine also looks wet), and now when the engine revs above 2k rpm the shifter will rattle violently. The car vibrates a little bit more, but not nearly as bad as when whatever went wrong happened (it felt like it was hooked up to a giant vibrator). I think it's the transmission, since the shifter has been loose & rattled at high rpms since I bought the car 2 months ago. It just seems like things are much worse now. I've also been told that the diff or driveshaft could've caused it too. I have driven the car a little stupidly at some times where the rear wheels will slide/skip due to the open diff. Not sure if that'd have caused this. I'm going to try taking it to the shop today if possible, but I'd like to be able to pinpoint the problem and fix everything at once so that there's no lingering problems. Any help would be appreciated.

08-09-2011, 12:31 PM	#2
chetos13 Zilvia Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: las vegas, nv Age: 39 Posts: 206 Trader Rating: (2) Feedback Score: 2 reviews	its time for a sr swap __________________ TEAM ELITE

08-11-2011, 08:53 AM	#15
thefro526 Nissanaholic! Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: New Jersey Posts: 1,813 Trader Rating: (8) Feedback Score: 8 reviews	Out of Curiosity, did you check the mounts? Hard shift then Clunking, Random Stuff Contacting Stuff that it's not supposed to and transmission shaking makes me think broken mount... __________________ http://thefro526.wordpress.com/ Deto International

08-11-2011, 12:10 PM	#18
93nismo Zilvia Addict Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: sycamore il Posts: 766 Trader Rating: (14) Feedback Score: 14 reviews	thats all shit you could have done on a saturday in your garage. when it got all weird you should have just stoped and investigated it on the side of the road instead of driving it home. i just had the studs on my waterpump that hold my clutch fan on break a few weeks ago, i thought it was my bumper dragging on the center of the road, but then i pulled off to check it out because my power steering stoped working and found that disaster. i got it towed to my house and fixed it the next day. probaby saved myself a good chunk of change. __________________ WTB: 1/24 scale chuki s13 model.

08-12-2011, 01:57 AM	#21
KiLLeR2001 Post Whore! Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: オーランドフロリダ Posts: 7,955 Trader Rating: (46) Feedback Score: 46 reviews	On my first 240sx I took off from a stop light, soon as the revs hit 3k and I was ready to shift into 2nd, the radiator clutch fan came flying off underneath the engine bay. It was night time so I couldn't see anything. Car wouldn't start so I had to tow it home. Turns out the fan disconnected the distributor wire and messed up a couple other things... Pretty much from that day forward I vowed to only install electric fans on my car. 4 years later electric fans have done me well. __________________

08-09-2011, 12:39 PM	#3
AnonymousCoward Leaky Injector Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: El Paso Posts: 73 Trader Rating: (0) Feedback Score: 0 reviews	Yeah, if it had died 3 wks later I'd have the money too :/ labor & new transmission is only going to cost $400 though so I think I'll have to go with that for now.

08-09-2011, 12:40 PM	#4
future Post Whore! Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: SoCal 909 Age: 32 Posts: 4,743 Trader Rating: (42) Feedback Score: 42 reviews	It's stuns for a ls swap

08-10-2011, 10:14 AM	#6
AnonymousCoward Leaky Injector Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: El Paso Posts: 73 Trader Rating: (0) Feedback Score: 0 reviews	Well last night the car suddenly stopped shaking & vibrating and drove fine. It actually feels better than when I bought it 2 months ago. I can't hear the shifter rattling anymore either, even at 4k rpm or so. There's still a small rattle coming from the engine (maybe loose stuff after the fan went to shit) but it seems much better now. On the other hand, my power steering went out at the same time and I stopped smelling the sweet-smelling leaking fluid, so I guess that's what the clear fluid was. Car is also overheating so there's probably an issue with the radiator as well. Going to get it fixed tomorrow morning so hopefully that's all there is to this.

08-10-2011, 10:20 AM	#7
jdm213 Zilvia Addict Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: los angeles Age: 35 Posts: 960 Trader Rating: (10) Feedback Score: 10 reviews	dont tell me u have clear power sterring fluid cz that not for your car ur suppose to gave at fluid the red cherry color in their mate

08-10-2011, 10:25 AM	#8
Edwin562 Post Whore! Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Whittier (562) Age: 35 Posts: 4,721 Trader Rating: (35) Feedback Score: 35 reviews	what got me stump is that you state the fan broke.... like WTF did you do to cause the damn fan to break. lol

08-10-2011, 01:26 PM	#9
AnonymousCoward Leaky Injector Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: El Paso Posts: 73 Trader Rating: (0) Feedback Score: 0 reviews	Ah, not sure what type of power steering fluid was put in there. I just bought the car and haven't changed that out yet. Likewise I have no idea what could've caused the radiator fan to explode like that. The car was involved in an accident 10 years ago and it looks like some of the intake / plastic bits were replaced in a crappy way. The air intake, for example (just before the filter) was loose because no one had bothered to screw it back down. So I ziptied that. But maybe something else was loose that I didn't see and happened to touch the fans. But it does seem strange that that'd happen while starting normally at a traffic light. Someone else brought up that maybe the motor/transmission mounts are bad/old and that could've caused the rattling/vibrations, but now that those have stopped I'm not sure what to think. Oh well, should have some straight answers tomorrow afternoon hopefully.

08-10-2011, 01:46 PM	#10
blueshark123 Post Whore! Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: North Jersey Posts: 5,481 Trader Rating: (55) Feedback Score: 55 reviews	did u fix the fan atleast im sure the fan breaking off whacked the ps line and radiator and thats why ur leaking, it also i probably vibrating cause ur fan is broke if u didnt fix it already.

08-10-2011, 01:56 PM	#11
AnonymousCoward Leaky Injector Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: El Paso Posts: 73 Trader Rating: (0) Feedback Score: 0 reviews	Not yet. Planning on fixing it tomorrow.

08-10-2011, 02:06 PM	#12
DoobieS13 Zilvia Junkie Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Delaware Age: 33 Posts: 425 Trader Rating: (0) Feedback Score: 0 reviews	If u shifted from 1st to 2nd at 5k.....ur Def not driving "normal" lol I hardly go over 3k in any gear

08-10-2011, 03:36 PM	#13
AnonymousCoward Leaky Injector Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: El Paso Posts: 73 Trader Rating: (0) Feedback Score: 0 reviews	haha, fair enough. But I didn't redline it either.

08-11-2011, 08:34 AM	#14
xFix Kaos Zilvia Junkie Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: PA Age: 34 Posts: 359 Trader Rating: (9) Feedback Score: 9 reviews	check your water pump, happened to me my water pumped seized and shatered my clutch fan, shit sucked. recommend replacing the water pump its like 70 bux at autozone and def worth it!...and my shifter did the rattling thing also wen i reved it in neutral, found out my flywheel wasnt put on perfectly, so had to redo that...

08-11-2011, 11:40 AM	#16
AnonymousCoward Leaky Injector Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: El Paso Posts: 73 Trader Rating: (0) Feedback Score: 0 reviews	Well after the car drove perfectly for about a day (except without power steering & it overheated after awhile) it went to shit again. Found out that the fan belt came off, probably on the first day. It was still on two of the three pulleys so I hadn't noticed. So I took that off entirely and it drove around for about 50mi. The car was out of coolant(even though I'd just refilled it about a week prior) so that's probably leaking too. I refilled that and put a little more motor oil in for good measure. Car made it to work fine and then died when I was parking (didn't realize at the time that it'd die if the revs went below about 1k). It felt very weak though, like only half the power was getting to the wheels. Drove about 40mph in a 55 because I didn't want to push it. Adding the coolant seemed to help with the overheating problem some. It did get a check engine light unfortunately, so I'm hoping I didn't hurt the engine by driving it to work & the shop. Had to give it gas to keep it from stalling when idle, but it made it to the mechanics and is now being worked on. Update: Blown radiator hoses, seized water pump, bad clutch fan, radiator fan of course is destroyed, bad motor mounts, bottom alternator bolt is all fucked up, replacing distributor cap & spark plug cables & getting a tune up. Total of about $1k in repairs/parts/labor. fml

08-11-2011, 12:31 PM	#19
AnonymousCoward Leaky Injector Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: El Paso Posts: 73 Trader Rating: (0) Feedback Score: 0 reviews	I suck at mechanical stuff and have no friends in the area that are good at it. I probably should've gotten a rental and towed the car home. The low compression on the engine pisses me off, but I expected it. It makes all these repairs seem like a waste if I'll just be pulling out everything for an engine replacement later on down the road.

08-11-2011, 07:00 PM	#20
AnonymousCoward Leaky Injector Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: El Paso Posts: 73 Trader Rating: (0) Feedback Score: 0 reviews	Well, car is fixed and feels great. Apparently the car has a short shifter too, but the shifter bearing was worn out and it just felt like a regular sloppy shifter. I wish I'd bought some used stuff off the forums before so that I could've avoided paying the mechanic for all the parts. Oh well.